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Aramaic Manuscript (Transcription) Project

Great day everybody, We're new to the forum, and introducing the Aramaic Manuscript Project, which is initially comprised of electronic transcriptions of various Aramaic manuscripts from the Syriac Peshitta family, specifically of the Apostolic Writings (which we prefer as more accurate than "New Testament") in this case. Below is some information, and the first three manuscripts have been transcribed into electronic modules for comparison. The main thrust of this project is to demonstrate the amazing consistency of the Peshitta Aramaic text, which several well-known scholars (e.g. Westcott, Michaelis, Bullinger, Etheridge, etc.) all held to have been formed between 80 CE and 170 CE, although our current manuscripts date from the 5th to the 17th centuries. This tradition has demonstrated remarkable consistency, and very well may be the earliest and most authoritative extant witness to the "New Testament" to date. At any rate, the Aramaic Manuscript Transcription project initially seeks to transcribe the manuscripts themselves--much like the wonderful Greek manuscript transcriptions of Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, etc. contained in BibleWorks. Eventually, we would love to see BibleWorks express interest in bringing the actual manuscripts onboard to make something comparable to the Greek manuscript project, because many people will want to study the Apostolic Writings in their original Semitic tongue. There are three transcriptions available at this point in time: 1) Khabouris Codex - ca. 1100 CE; 2) Houghton Codex - 1199 CE; 3) Mingana Syriac 148 - 1637 CE. We've intentionally chosen these three manuscripts as the first batch of transcriptions, and the next batch will be aimed towards MSS. like Bl. Add. 14,470 - ca. 400-599 CE. Please advise if you are interested in the transcription files. They are simple user-created Bible Modules, both in the the traditional Hebrew square script, and in the Syriac Estrangella script, for a total of six files available right now. Again, we're not sure where to post the files for download, so please advise how to get these to "Bibleworks: Old in the New" or wherever they should go. Grace and peace, AramLT

Aramaic Manuscripts of the NT

Hi all, I have been testing the transcriptions of these manuscripts for several weeks now, and it adds an incredible amount to BibleWorks, similar to the BibleWorks Bible Manuscript Project. The transcriptions of the Aramaic MSS means that you can use the BibleWorks Highlighting tool to show the very minor differences between these MSS, which are generally spacing and orthography variants, which are common in Syriac. I am hoping to add a review of these transcriptions at the JesusSpokeAramaic.com website soon. It is remarkable that the oldest *dated* manuscripts of both the Old and New Testament are Aramaic, yet Aramaic does not get as much interest amongst Bible students as it deserves :-)
So go ahead and download these manuscript transcriptions and test them out!

Hello Gilbert, I have the files available, but it doesn't seem that anybody has replied to my post above, which states "we're not sure where to post the files for download, so please advise how to get these to "Bibleworks: Old in the New" or wherever they should go." While I'm trying to find out the best way to post these files with the forum, I can also email them personally if you like. Again, there are three different Peshitta manuscripts that have been transcribed at this point--each manuscript in two different scripts / fonts, for a total of six different modules. If you would like, please send me your email, and I will be glad to send the files. I will also need to send you instructions on installing them, which I will be happy to. Grace and peace, AramLT.

Hello Gilbert, I have the files available, but it doesn't seem that anybody has replied to my post above, which states "we're not sure where to post the files for download, so please advise how to get these to "Bibleworks: Old in the New" or wherever they should go." While I'm trying to find out the best way to post these files with the forum, I can also email them personally if you like. Again, there are three different Peshitta manuscripts that have been transcribed at this point--each manuscript in two different scripts / fonts, for a total of six different modules. If you would like, please send me your email, and I will be glad to send the files. I will also need to send you instructions on installing them, which I will be happy to. Grace and peace, AramLT.

AramLT, I sent you a private message thru these forums so you can email. I can get the files on the BibleWorks blog.